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Israel Confronts the Cost of Peace: Justice Ministry Publishes Names of 250 Terrorists Freed Under Hostage Deal

By: Fern Sidman

In a move that has ignited fierce national debate, the Israeli Justice Ministry last week released a list of 250 convicted terrorists—most serving multiple life sentences for murder and involvement in deadly attacks—who were freed on Monday under the terms of Israel’s fragile deal with Hamas. According to a report that appeared in Israel Hayom, the prisoners, described by officials as some of the “most notorious and ideologically hardened militants” in Israeli custody, represent every major Palestinian terrorist faction: Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

The release, intended to secure the safe return of the remaining Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, has stirred raw emotions across the country. Families of terror victims gathered outside the Justice Ministry in Jerusalem and at multiple IDF bases overnight, demanding that the government reverse its decision. Yet, as officials told Israel Hayom, the political and strategic calculus behind the exchange reflects “the excruciating moral weight” of choosing between justice for the dead and life for the living.

The Justice Ministry’s publication—one of the most detailed prisoner lists released since the 2011 Gilad Shalit exchange—reveals the chilling biographies of those released. As Israel Hayom reported, the roster reads like a cross-section of two decades of terror, spanning the First and Second Intifadas and the wave of bus bombings and shooting attacks that scarred Israel’s streets in the early 2000s.

At the top of the list stands Imad Qawasmeh (52), a senior Hamas operative from Hebron, serving 16 consecutive life sentences since 2004. According to Israel Hayom, Qawasmeh played a central role in orchestrating a suicide bombing that killed 16 Israelis and wounded dozens more during the Second Intifada. He was captured after Israeli security forces demolished his house and discovered an escape tunnel beneath it.

Qawasmeh’s record of violence extends far beyond a single operation. Initially sentenced in 1994 for aiding Hamas’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, he was released in 1999—only to rejoin the organization and help rebuild its terrorist infrastructure. “He trained bomb-makers, recruited suicide attackers, and planned follow-up strikes while on the run,” an Israeli intelligence source told Israel Hayom. “Releasing him is not symbolic—it’s operationally dangerous.”

Qawasmeh, who was on the deportation list, was sent abroad as part of the deal, though officials acknowledge that deported operatives have previously resurfaced in leadership roles across the region, particularly in Lebanon, Syria, and Qatar.

Qassem Aref Khalil al-Asafreh: The Gush Etzion Murderer

Another name provoking outrage is Qassem Aref Khalil al-Asafreh (36), a Hamas terrorist convicted for the 2019 stabbing of 19-year-old soldier Dvir Sorek in Gush Etzion. Al-Asafreh, together with his cousin, executed the attack after two failed attempts on other targets. According to Israel Hayom, he later admitted to planning additional assaults before being captured by Israeli security forces. He too was slated for deportation.

Muhammad Aref Samhan: The Dispatcher of Death

Among the most infamous on the list is Muhammad Aref Samhan (55), a senior Fatah-Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander responsible for dispatching multiple suicide bombers, including the perpetrator of the Bus Line 2 bombing in Jerusalem that killed 23 people and wounded 130. Samhan, as documented in the Israel Hayom report, coordinated the attack from Ramallah during the height of the Second Intifada. “He did not just plan terror—he industrialized it,” an Israeli counterterrorism official said. Samhan was deported, though critics warn that “such men never retire; they reemerge as icons of resistance.”

Ibrahim Muhammad al-Raai: The Engineer of the Casbah Bombings

Another figure generating alarm within Israeli intelligence circles is Ibrahim Muhammad al-Raai (46), a Tanzim-Fatah operative tied to a 2006 bombing in Nablus’s Casbah that killed Osher Damari. Captured only in 2022, al-Raai confessed under interrogation to his role in dozens of shooting attacks near Joseph’s Tomb and to recruiting other gunmen. As Israel Hayom reported, the Shin Bet described him as “a veteran terror engineer” who continued operating remotely from the West Bank with direction from Gaza.

Rashid Mahmoud Omar: Killer of His Own

Uniquely, Rashid Mahmoud Omar (48) was convicted not for killing Israelis but for murdering a Palestinian accused of collaborating with Israel. A Fatah member, Omar was arrested in 2005 in the Samaria village of Faraoon. His crimes included attempted murder, shooting at civilians, and “causing death with intent.” Israel Hayom noted that he was one of the few prisoners not slated for deportation, underscoring Israel’s difficulty in determining who poses the least future risk.

Raad Abd al-Aziz: Two Decades of Blood

 

Raad Abd al-Aziz (45), another Fatah operative, was convicted of attempted murder, illegal weapons possession, and conspiracy to cause death. Arrested in the early 2000s in the Ramallah area, he has spent 20 years in prison. The Justice Ministry confirmed that al-Aziz was deported abroad, as Israeli security services assess his return to the West Bank as “a near certainty for recidivism.”

Omar Mahmoud Bassis and Arafat Hamid Zir: PIJ’s Veteran Agents

From Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Omar Mahmoud Bassis (60)—a convicted bomb-maker and marksman— was also released. Bassis joined the organization in the late 1990s, was captured in 2004, and has been serving multiple sentences for planting explosives and shooting attacks. Another PIJ operative, Arafat Hamid Zir (43), convicted of aiding murder and incitement to terror, was freed to the West Bank. Israel Hayom observed that both men “represent the institutional longevity of Palestinian Islamic Jihad,” having maintained influence among younger militants from inside prison.

Faisal Mahmoud Abdullah Khalifa: The Shelterer of Terrorists

Faisal Khalifa (43), a Hamas terrorist detained in 2024, was accused of providing safehouses to wanted men, stockpiling arms, and conspiring to murder. Although relatively new to the prison system, he has been released to Samaria. Security analysts quoted in Israel Hayom warn that Khalifa’s expertise in concealment and logistics makes him “a likely facilitator of future militant infrastructure.”

Firas Sadiq Muhammad Ghanem: The Jerusalem Cell Leader

A Jerusalem-born operative, Firas Sadiq Ghanem (51), is another long-term prisoner that was deported. According to the report in Israel Hayom, Ghanem was part of Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades and participated in a wave of 2000–2002 attacks that left nine Israelis dead. His crimes included multiple attempted murders and weapons trafficking. The Prisoners Organization has celebrated his release, calling him a “symbol of steadfastness.”

Ibrahim al-Hani and Ibrahim al-Qam: The Popular Front Veterans

Two Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) operatives are on the deportation list: Ibrahim al-Hani (54), sentenced to multiple life terms for attacks during the Second Intifada, and Ibrahim al-Qam (53), serving two life sentences for terrorist activity. Both men were deported from Israeli territory. Al-Hani previously survived an assassination attempt and, according to the Israel Hayom report, was a close associate of slain PFLP commander Ahmad Sa’adat.

Iyad Muhammad Abu al-Rub: The “Engineer of Jenin”

 

From PIJ, Iyad Abu al-Rub (51) is among the most senior figures freed. Known as the “head of the military wing in Jenin,” al-Rub oversaw suicide bombings in Tel Aviv and Netanya and maintained direct communications with Gaza-based leadership. Israeli officials told Israel Hayom that releasing him “essentially resets the clock on Jenin,” long considered the West Bank’s most volatile terrorist hub.

Alaa al-Din al-Karki: Hamas’s Longest-Serving Prisoner

Imprisoned since 1993, Alaa al-Din al-Karki (52) of Hamas is accused of murder, weapon possession, and multiple attempted killings. His name is almost legendary among the older generation of Hamas operatives; his release, as the Israel Hayom report noted, fulfills a long-standing promise from Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif to free “the prisoners of the first generation.”

The Families’ Plea: “Do Not Abandon Sinwar’s Promise”

As Israel reels from the moral gravity of freeing such men, pressure from the other side has only intensified. Israel Hayom reported on a statement issued by Ghufran al-Zamel, fiancée of imprisoned Hamas figure Hassan Salameh—one of the architects of the 1996 Jerusalem bus bombings whom Israel refuses to release.

Addressing senior Hamas leaders including Khalil al-Hayya, Zaher Jabarin, Khaled Mashal, and Muhammad Darwish, she urged them not to forsake their imprisoned “brothers.” “Abandoning them,” she wrote, “would be breaking a covenant that has lasted for more than three decades.”

Her appeal invoked the names of some of Hamas’s most infamous mass murderers—Abdullah Barghouti, Ibrahim Hamed, and Abbas al-Sayed—who remain incarcerated in Israel and are serving dozens of life terms. “Do not abandon Sinwar’s will or Deif’s commitment,” she said, referencing Hamas’s top leaders. The message, widely disseminated through Arabic media, was cited by Israel Hayom as an example of “the propaganda theater Hamas has built around its prisoners—casting them as national martyrs rather than murderers.”

The Political Storm Inside Israel

Reaction inside Israel has been swift and furious. Opposition members accused the government of capitulating to terror, while relatives of victims stood outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem carrying photographs of loved ones lost in bombings now linked to the men who walked free.

In interviews with Israel Hayom, bereaved families expressed shock at the inclusion of men like Qawasmeh and Samhan, whose attacks remain etched in national memory. “My daughter was on Bus 2,” said Miriam Weiss, whose 19-year-old daughter was killed in the 2003 Jerusalem bombing. “I cannot believe that her murderer is part of a political deal. It is like erasing her death twice.”

Yet government insiders argue that the deal, though painful, was necessary. A senior official told Israel Hayom, “The alternative—leaving living hostages to die in Gaza—was morally impossible. But this is not forgiveness. These men are being deported, not returned to the streets of Israel.”

Still, critics note that even deportation rarely neutralizes the threat. In past exchanges, many freed terrorists resurfaced as terrorist leaders abroad. Yahya Sinwar himself—the mastermind of the October 7 attacks—was freed in the 2011 Shalit deal after serving 22 years for murder. As one Israeli defense analyst put it to Israel Hayom, “Every release buys temporary relief but mortgages future security.”

Between Redemption and Risk

The release of 250 hardened operatives underlines the paradox of Israel’s hostage diplomacy. As Israel Hayom emphasized, the move is both “a humanitarian necessity and a strategic gamble.” Each freed prisoner represents a moral debt to the victims of terror, but also the price of rescuing those in Hamas’s tunnels.

Officials insist that strict deportation conditions, intelligence monitoring, and international supervision will mitigate the risks. Yet many Israelis remain unconvinced. In a statement to Israel Hayom, former Mossad deputy chief Ram Ben-Barak warned: “Terrorists do not retire; they rebrand. Once abroad, they will continue to finance, inspire, and organize attacks against us. We are trading known killers for unknown threats.”

As the freed men make their way to exile or the West Bank, Israel stands once more at a painful crossroads between justice and mercy, security and conscience. The faces of the victims—etched in stone and memory—confront the images of the hostages now returning home. And as the Israel Hayom report poignantly observed, “In every prisoner exchange, Israel rescues the living—but resurrects the ghosts of the dead.”

A Nation Holding Its Breath

The coming days will test the balance of relief and regret. Israel’s airwaves, filled with footage of hostage reunions, now run parallel to scenes of public mourning and silent protest. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under mounting political and moral pressure, has described the exchange as “a tragedy of necessity,” adding that Israel “will not forget, and will not forgive, even as we bring our sons and daughters home.”

As dawn approaches over Ben Gurion Airport the convoys prepare to move toward Gaza and beyond, carrying 250 men whose names are synonymous with Israel’s darkest days.

The headline in Israel Hayom captures the mood of a nation torn between anguish and duty: “Israel Saves Its Children, but the Killers Go Free.”

For now, that paradox defines the fragile peace between life reclaimed and justice deferred—a peace as tenuous as the paper on which the deal was signed.